Mancini never spoke about Guardiola

Roberto Mancini has revealed he never discussed Pep Guardiola's availability with his former Barcelona colleagues Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain amid all the suggestions they would try and lure the Spaniard to Manchester City.

But before he opted for the Bundesliga leaders, Barcelona's double Champions League-winning manager was a reported target of City.

Begiristain played a major part in picking Guardiola for the job at the Camp Nou in 2008 but Mancini said he was not worried about his position.

Asked directly if he had spoken about Guardiola with Begiristain and Soriano, he replied: "No, no."

He said he was unworried by the two Spaniards' previous association with Guardiola, arguing that it did not necessarily mean they would turn to him again.

"I think we did well until now," he said. "This doesn't change because Ferran is CEO here and Txiki is sporting director. It does not mean that they keep [going to] Guardiola."

Mancini argued other coaches were at greater risk of being fired to make way for Guardiola than him.

He said: "I can understand it if in three years we won nothing but we have won three trophies in three years. We will probably continue to win in the future. The problem would be for the other managers who have not won anything in the last three or four years."

The City manager has also talked to captain Vincent Kompany about his tackling technique after the Belgian's sending-off against Arsenal last season.

The red card was overturned on appeal but Mancini believes Kompany should stay on his feet more often, or even pull out of tackles, so referees do not have the opportunity to dismiss him again.

He added: "I think he needs to pay more attention, because this has happened two times. We can have a problem if we have another situation like this. I spoke with Vinnie and told him to have more attention on his tackles. Sometimes it is better that you wait and don't do a tackle